Mayor Sam Katz wants to create a regional water utility to run Winnipeg's sewer and water systems. The agency would operate independently of city council and, if it wished, market Winnipeg's water to adjacent municipalities.

Already all the municipalities surrounding Winnipeg are able to build their revenues by offering opportunities for residential development at substantially lower tax rates than the ones Winnipeg can offer. But the lower tax rates and lower population densities mean that these municipalities do not have sufficient revenues to invest in their own high-quality services. The perfect solution is to tap into Winnipeg's infrastructure -- ex-urban commuters already do this when they use Winnipeg's roads and bridges, but pay their taxes outside of Winnipeg.

It has been suggested that the sale of Winnipeg's water might be in the city's interest if buyers were required to pay more for the same service Winnipeg gets, or that it might be all right if water were supplied on the stipulation that municipalities could not use it for commercial or industrial development.